Written Answers Friday 18 March 2011

Scottish Executive

Birds

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many special protection areas are designated wholly or partly with regard to hen harrier interest and whether it will list them.

Roseanna Cunningham: In Scotland there are 13 Special Protection Areas (SPAs) where hen harrier is listed as a qualifying feature.

  The sites are named as follows: Arran Moors; Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands; Forest of Clunie; Glen App and Galloway Moors; Glen Tanar; Langholm - Newcastleton Hills; Muirkirk and North Lowther Uplands; Orkney Mainland Moors; Renfrewshire Heights; Rinns of Islay; Strath Carnaig and Strath Fleet Moors; Loch of Inch and Torrs Warren; River Spey and Insh Marshes.

Birds

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the numbers of hen harriers on special protection areas (SPA) is designated if a hen harrier interest is (a) static, (b) increasing or (c) declining and what the trend is for each such SPA.

Roseanna Cunningham: Special Protection Areas (SPA) are classified in accordance with the requirements of Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds using guidelines for the selection of SPAs (published by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee in 1999). The guidelines are available via the following web link: http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-1405 .

  Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) assesses whether or not the condition of an SPA is declining, maintained or improving under its Site Condition Monitoring programme. SNH’s latest assessment of the condition of any SPA can be viewed on SNH’s "sitelink" website via the following web address:

  http://gateway.snh.gov.uk/portal/page?_pageid=53,910284,53_920284and_dad=portaland_schema=PORTAL.

Birds

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated breeding success of hen harriers on special protection areas was in (a) 2007, (b) 2008, (c) 2009 and (d) 2010.

Roseanna Cunningham: Scottish Natural Heritage has advised that it is unable to provide an estimate of breeding success. This is because its survey methodology is aimed at assessing numbers of breeding pairs rather than their productivity.

Children and Young People

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the development of a play and communication strategy.

Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government currently has no plans to develop a specific play and communication strategy but addresses the benefits of using play to develop language and learning outcomes for children through the Early Years Framework and Curriculum for Excellence.

Dentistry

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost to dentists in primary care is of complying with the new measures to decontaminate dental instruments.

Shona Robison: As independent contractors to the NHS, General Dental Practitioners have responsibility for ensuring appropriate instrumentation is used to treat patients.

  In excess of £50 million has been allocated to NHS boards to assist general dental practitioners with practice improvements under the Primary and Continuing Care Modernisation Improvement Programme.

  In addition to this, dental practitioners also receive a general dental practice allowance which is intended to help address practice improvements in relation to the provision of high quality premises, compliance with health and safety requirements and decontamination.

Dentistry

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence exists of dental patients contracting variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob vCJD disease from a contaminated dental instrument.

Shona Robison: The Department of Health reported in 2007 that there was currently no evidence of vCJD having been spread by dentistry and this is still the case. The latest guidance from the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) on infection control of CJD, vCJD and other human prion diseases in healthcare was published in January 2011 and identifies that the risks of transmission of infection from dental instruments are thought to be very low provided satisfactory standards of infection control and decontamination are maintained.

Domestic Abuse

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many women attending accident and emergency departments on each day from 22 January to 4 February 2011 disclosed, as a result of the gender-based violence action plan, that they were abused by a partner and how many indicated that they (a) had or (b) had not reported the abuse to the police, broken down by NHS board.

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many women attending accident and emergency departments on each day from 19 February to 4 March 2011 disclosed, as a result of the gender-based violence action plan, that they were abused by a partner and how many indicated that they (a) had or (b) had not reported the abuse to the police, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: Routine enquiry of domestic abuse has not yet been systematically introduced within Accident and Emergency services in NHS boards in Scotland, therefore data on numbers of disclosures is not currently held centrally. The National Gender-based Violence Team is working with NHS boards to support the rolling out of routine enquiry of abuse in the priority settings identified in Chief Executive’s Letter (CEL_41 (2008)). Routine enquiry of domestic abuse will not include systematically recording whether the abuse has been reported to the police.

Environment

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in measuring fine particulate emissions arising from thermal combustion.

Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has recently enhanced its ability to measure ambient fine particulates. There are, however, some technical limitations in the methods available to measure low levels of fine particulate emissions in the stacks of incinerators. Monitoring of fine particulates in these circumstances is a specialised technique which only a small number of companies are able to provide. SEPA works with the applicants for environmental permits for thermal combustion activities to agree appropriate methods for measuring emissions, including fine particulates, and to predict how emissions might affect local air quality. SEPA also arranges for independent monitoring teams to carry out regular monitoring of stack emissions from incinerators, including the measurement of fine particulates. Results from this monitoring programme are publicly available from SEPA.

  Local authorities in Scotland regularly review and assess air quality in their areas against objectives for a number of pollutants of concern for human health, including fine particulates. This is supported by monitoring undertaken for the Scottish Government to comply with EU legislation on air quality. The number of sites at which air quality monitoring takes place has increased markedly in recent years.

Environment

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what conditions on emissions it expects intended waste-to-heat developments to meet.

Roseanna Cunningham: The conditions included in environmental permits for controlling emissions from energy from waste plants are operational matters for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Conditions will depend on a range of site specific factors and will aim to ensure that plants comply with the stringent emission standards required by the Waste Incineration Directive, the objectives of which are to protect human health and the environment from the impacts of burning waste.

  Environmental permits for new energy from waste plants will normally include conditions that specify emission limit values and monitoring requirements for a range of pollutants, including particulates, dioxins and furans. Conditions will also specify techniques on how these pollutants are to be measured and on the use of continuous and periodic measurement equipment.

Ferry Services

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an update on efforts to re-establish a ferry service between Campbeltown and Ballycastle.

Keith Brown: Scottish Ministers remain supportive of the provision of a subsidised Campbeltown-Ballycastle ferry service. However, current financial pressures mean that ferries budget provision must remain focused on existing contracts and committed vessels and harbour projects.

  We have therefore been encouraged by the news that a private operator plans to run a service on a commercial basis between Campbeltown and Ballycastle. This service is due to start in May 2011 and we wish the company every success. Notwithstanding this, we remain supportive of the provision of a subsidised service and will continue to consider the timing of further work to re-establish the service.

Finance

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much local authority grant support funding has been allocated per capita for (a) Orkney, (b) Shetland and (c) the Western Isles in each year since 1999.

John Swinney: The information requested is contained within the following tables.

  The figures in these tables represent total revenue figures for the period 2008-12 and Aggregate External Finance for the period 1999-2008. The local government finance settlements changed from 2008-09 when the vast majority of the former ring-fenced funding streams were rolled-up into the settlement allocations. Allocations to individual local authorities of the former ring-fenced grants paid out under the previous administration are not available for the years up to and including 2006-07. In order to make a comparison between 2007-08 and 2008-09, the 2007-08 figures are presented in table 1 as a constructed baseline (including the ring-fenced funding) and in table 2 as the actual published figures (without the ring-fenced funding). As a result of the addition of the ring-fenced grants from 2007-08 in Table 1, it should be noted that the figures for 2007-12 in table 1 are comparable and those for 1999-2008 in table 2 are comparable. It follows that figures for 2007-12 in table 1 are not comparable with those for 1999-2008 in table 2 since they are constructed on a different basis.

  Table 1 Scottish Government Revenue Funding to Local Government 2007-12

  

Council
Eilean Siar
Orkney
Shetland
Scotland


2011-12 Funding per head (£)*
4,274
3,623
4,261
2,008


2010-11 Funding per head (£)
4,423
3,760
4,490
2,068


2009-10 Funding per head (£)
4,270
3,619
4,436
2,061


2008-09 Funding per head (£)
4,108
3,446
4,321
1,966


2007-08 Funding per head (£)
3,978
3,262
4,000
1,897



  Note: *The 2011-12 figures are taken from the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Amendment Order 2011.

  Table 2 Scottish Government Revenue Funding to Local Government 1999-2008

  

 Council 
Eilean Siar
Orkney
Shetland
Scotland


2007-08 Funding per head (£) 
 3,803 
 3,118 
 3,768 
 1,711 


2006-07 Funding per head (£) 
 3,684 
 3,001 
 3,626 
 1,639 


2005-06 Funding per head (£) 
 3,613 
 2,840 
 3,549 
 1,599 


2004-05 Funding per head (£) 
 3,448 
 2,724 
 3,405 
 1,517 


2003-04 Funding per head (£) 
 3,251 
 2,571 
 3,221 
 1,439 


2002-03 Funding per head (£) 
 2,995 
 2,378 
 2,967 
 1,296 


2001-02 Funding per head (£) 
 2,794 
 2,220 
 2,764 
 1,189 


2000-01 Funding per head (£) 
 2,616 
 2,057 
 2,565 
 1,103 


1999-2000 Funding per head (£) 
 2,523 
 2,045 
 2,502 
 1,075

Flood Prevention

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the financial support that it has given to Perth and Kinross for new or improved flood prevention measures in each of the last five years.

Roseanna Cunningham: From 1 April 2008 capital support provided to Councils has generally been provided without a ring-fence. Decisions on where to apply this non-ringfenced support are the responsibility of individual councils.

  The following table provides information on the capital support provided by the Scottish Government available to Perth and Kinross Council to support flood prevention and protection measures from 2006-07 to 2010-11.

  

Year
Tota l£ million


2006-07
8.660


2007-08
8.877


2008-09 
18.710


2009-10
21.351


2010-11
17.643



  Prior to these new arrangements Perth and Kinross Council had been granted £0.7 million over 2006-07 for the Milnathort flood protection scheme.

General Practitioners

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it supports rural GP practices that raise income from dispensing services to continue to deliver services to communities when a community pharmacy opens in the area.

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that an increase in community pharmacies will not have a negative impact on the capacity of rural GP practices that raise income from dispensing services to deliver services to communities.

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the funding arrangements for GPs that raise income from dispensing services will be amended to ensure that rural practices can continue to deliver services to patients.

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that rural GPs who have lost income previously raised from dispensing can continue to deliver services to local communities.

Shona Robison: Both urban and rural GP practices across Scotland, whether dispensing or non-dispensing, are allocated levels of funding to deliver essential and additional Primary Care Services by their local health board (called the global sum). These allocations are determined by the Scottish Allocation Formula which allocates resources on the basis of needs and workload of their patients, taking into consideration the relative costs of service delivery.

  The formula contains weightings to reflect:

  The age and sex structure of the practice population;

  The additional needs of the practice population in areas of morbidity and deprivation, and

  The rurality and remoteness of the practice population.

  In addition to the incentives of the Quality and Outcomes Framework, an integral part of the General Medical Services contract which remunerates GPs, there are a number of Directed Enhanced Services offering increased care for patients in which GP practices can participate and earn income over and above their global sum allocation from the boards.

  The extra remuneration given by NHS boards to GP practices to dispense to their patients is intended solely to cover the costs of delivering that service, and is not provided to cross-subsidise other services. GP practices should not be reliant on income raised from dispensing services to deliver essential and additional services under their General Medical Services contract, as appropriate funding is already allocated for this purpose. Any cross-subsidy would also be unfair on the patients of non-dispensing practices, who would not have access to that funding.

  Negotiations are ongoing with the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association on future funding arrangements for dispensing GP practices in Scotland.

Health

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days in NHS (a) Highland, (b) Western Isles, (c) Orkney and (d) Shetland were taken up by patients with an alcohol-related diagnosis in (i) 2009 and (ii) 2010.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table shows the total number of bed days of patients treated in acute hospitals in Highland, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland for alcohol related conditions for the calendar year 2009. NHS Boards data returns for 2010 are currently incomplete. These statistics are published by financial year and statistics for 2010-11 is planned to be published by ISD in February 2012.

  Total Number of Bed Days in General Acute Hospitals1,2,3 for Alcohol-Related4 Diagnosis5,6 for Selected NHS Boards7; 2009P

  

NHS Health Board7
Number of Bed Days


Highland
12, 319


Orkney
866


Shetland
474


Western Isles
1, 728



  Source: ISD Scotland (SMR01).

  PProvisional.

  Date Extracted: March 2011.

  Information is based on date of discharge (rather than date of admission) because the SMR01 dataset is a discharge summary record.

  Excludes mental illness hospitals, psychiatric units and maternity hospitals.

  Figures in this table relate only to those individuals who are treated as inpatients or day cases in an acute hospital. They do not include individuals managed as outpatients.

  Diseases recorded using the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10). Alcohol-related codes: F10, K70, X45, X65, Y15, Y90, Y91, E24.4, E51.2, G31.2, G62.1, G72.1, I42.6, K29.2, K86.0, O35.4, P04.3, Q86.0, T51.0, T51.1, T51.9, Y57.3, R78.0, Z50.2, Z71.4, Z72.1. Up to 6 diagnoses are recorded. All six diagnoses have been used to identify alcohol related conditions.

  Caution is necessary when interpreting these figures. The recording of alcohol misuse may vary from hospital to hospital. Where alcohol misuse is suspected but unconfirmed it may not be recorded by the hospital.

  Note that these figures include residents from other health boards that were treated in Highland, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland hospitals but do not include Highland, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland residents treated in other health boards.

  Health board of treatment.

Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the value of surplus NHS land and buildings.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally. The day-to-day management of NHSScotland assets including the sale of surplus land and buildings is a matter devolved to NHS boards to undertake following well established guidance and mandatory procedures as directed by the NHSScotland Property Transactions Handbook.

Health

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of admissions for general surgery wards was repeat admissions, broken down by NHS board in each of the last five years.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table shows the total number of admissions and the number of repeat admissions for patients admitted to the specialty of General Surgery for the financial years ending 31 March 2006 to 31 March 2010, by NHS board of residence.

  A repeat admission is defined as a subsequent admission to the specialty of General Surgery following a previous admission to General Surgery in the same financial year. If a patient has multiple repeat admissions then all of these are counted in the total number of repeat admissions.

  It should be noted that repeat admissions may be part of a planned course of treatment or may be unrelated to the previous hospital stay.

  Number of admissions and the number of repeat admissions for patients admitted to the specialty General Surgery for the financial years ending 31 March 2006 and 2010, by NHS board of residence.

  

 
 
Financial Year ending 31 March


NHS Board of Residence
 
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010


NHS Scotland
Number of Admissions
185,584
190,828
191,793
198,261
201,261


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
39,663
41,151
42,019
43,263
44,567


 
% of Repeat Admissions
21.4
21.6
21.9
21.8
22.1


NHS Ayrshire and Arran
Number of Admissions
19,450
19,203
19,017
20,843
21,336


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
5,591
5,727
5,613
5,772
6,335


 
% of Repeat Admissions
28.7
29.8
29.5
27.7
29.7


NHS Borders
Number of Admissions
3,412
3,179
3,346
3,349
3,137


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
642
504
602
564
554


 
% of Repeat Admissions
18.8
15.9
18.0
16.8
17.7


NHS Dumfries and Galloway
Number of Admissions
7,202
7,196
8,077
7,906
8,301


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
1,367
1,330
1,600
1,609
1,670


 
% of Repeat Admissions
19.0
18.5
19.8
20.4
20.1


NHS Fife
Number of Admissions
11,138
11,475
11,375
9,034
9,692


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
2,158
2,156
2,356
1,736
1,884


 
% of Repeat Admissions
19.4
18.8
20.7
19.2
19.4


NHS Forth Valley
Number of Admissions
7,117
7,160
7,280
7,105
6,749


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
1,357
1,266
1,314
1,220
1,096


 
% of Repeat Admissions
19.1
17.7
18.0
17.2
16.2


NHS Grampian
Number of Admissions
15,109
15,920
15,582
16,259
15,736


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
3,034
3,322
3,027
3,047
3,067


 
% of Repeat Admissions
20.1
20.9
19.4
18.7
19.5


NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Number of Admissions
48,064
49,024
50,807
52,033
52,424


Number of Repeat Admissions
10,516
10,790
11,425
11,479
11,509


% of Repeat Admissions
21.9
22.0
22.5
22.1
22.0


NHS Highland
Number of Admissions
17,224
17,240
17,514
17,444
16,886


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
3,807
3,597
3,819
3,785
3,736


 
% of Repeat Admissions
22.1
20.9
21.8
21.7
22.1


NHS Lanarkshire
Number of Admissions
22,882
26,511
24,951
28,713
30,352


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
5,001
6,006
5,679
7,076
7,410


 
% of Repeat Admissions
21.9
22.7
22.8
24.6
24.4


NHS Lothian
Number of Admissions
16,951
16,881
17,581
18,672
19,086


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
2,954
3,038
3,303
3,567
3,608


 
% of Repeat Admissions
17.4
18.0
18.8
19.1
18.9


NHS Orkney Islands
Number of Admissions
1,851
1,952
1,929
2,116
2,005


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
375
405
435
460
388


 
% of Repeat Admissions
20.3
20.7
22.6
21.7
19.4


NHS Shetland Islands
Number of Admissions
2,380
2,462
2,312
2,091
2,199


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
519
573
520
388
429


 
% of Repeat Admissions
21.8
23.3
22.5
18.6
19.5


NHS Tayside
Number of Admissions
10,770
10,213
9,713
10,088
10,568


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
1,883
1,856
1,734
1,860
1,926


 
% of Repeat Admissions
17.5
18.2
17.9
18.4
18.2


NHS Western Isles
Number of Admissions
2,034
2,412
2,309
2,608
2,790


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
459
581
592
700
955


 
% of Repeat Admissions
22.6
24.1
25.6
26.8
34.2



  Source: ISD SMR01.

Health

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of admissions to the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit was repeat admissions, broken down by NHS board in each of the last five years.

Nicola Sturgeon: All liver transplants in Scotland are carried out by the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. The following table shows the number of liver transplants carried out in each year from 2005-06 to 2010-11. It also shows the number of post transplant re-admissions and the average re-admissions per transplant.

  Number of Liver Transplants, Post Transplant Re-admissions and Re-admissions per transplant, 2005-06 to 2010-11

  

 
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11*


Number of Liver Transplants
42
50
60
62
74
80


Number of Post Transplant Re-admissions
151
175
156
150
140
142


Average Re-admissions per transplant
3.6
3.5
2.6
2.4
1.9
1.8



  Source: Scottish Liver Transplant Unit.

  Note: *2010-11 data is incomplete as financial year ends at 31 March 2011. Data received at 15 March 2011.

Health

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of admissions for heart-related hospital admissions was repeat admissions, broken down by NHS board in each of the last five years.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table shows the number of admissions and the number of repeat admissions for patients admitted with a heart-related diagnosis for the financial years ending 31 March 2006 and 2010, by NHS board of residence.

  A repeat admission is defined as a subsequent admission with a main diagnosis of a heart-related condition following a previous admission with a main diagnosis of a heart-related condition in the same financial year. If a patient has multiple repeat admissions then all of these are counted in the total number of repeat admissions.

  It should be noted that repeat admissions may be part of a planned course of treatment or may be unrelated to the previous hospital stay. Number of admissions and the number of repeat admissions for patients with a heart-related diagnosis for the financial years ending 31 March 2006 to 31 March 2010, by NHS board of residence.

  

 
 
Financial Year Ending 31 March


NHS Board of Residence
 
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010


NHS Scotland
Number of Admissions
56,459
54,478
53,824
52,749
50,346


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
12,948
12,527
12,047
11,658
11,033


 
% of Repeat Admissions
22.9
23.0
22.4
22.1
21.9


NHS Ayrshire and Arran
Number of Admissions
4,581
4,171
4,172
4,137
4,019


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
1,119
1,027
972
1,072
944


 
% of Repeat Admissions
24.4
24.6
23.3
25.9
23.5


NHS Borders
Number of Admissions
1,451
1,464
1,456
1,391
1,370


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
328
357
336
313
280


 
% of Repeat Admissions
22.6
24.4
23.1
22.5
20.4


NHS Dumfries and Galloway
Number of Admissions
1,628
1,583
1,643
1,655
1,554


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
358
361
374
384
363


 
% of Repeat Admissions
22.0
22.8
22.8
23.2
23.4


NHS Fife
Number of Admissions
3,692
3,577
3,523
3,692
3,325


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
808
784
770
819
698


 
% of Repeat Admissions
21.9
21.9
21.9
22.2
21.0


NHS Forth Valley
Number of Admissions
3,045
2,703
2,212
2,250
2,334


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
750
583
361
402
469


 
% of Repeat Admissions
24.6
21.6
16.3
17.9
20.1


NHS Grampian
Number of Admissions
5,095
5,101
5,271
5,120
5,099


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
1,084
1,025
1,108
1,090
1,177


 
% of Repeat Admissions
21.3
20.1
21.0
21.3
23.1


NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Number of Admissions
13,415
12,892
12,882
12,028
11,541


Number of Repeat Admissions
3,108
3,014
3,008
2,618
2,485


 
% of Repeat Admissions
23.2
23.4
23.4
21.8
21.5


NHS Highland
Number of Admissions
3,705
3,735
3,720
3,779
3,425


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
834
901
850
864
748


 
% of Repeat Admissions
22.5
24.1
22.8
22.9
21.8


NHS Lanarkshire
Number of Admissions
6,793
6,761
6,538
6,364
5,844


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
1,674
1,695
1,532
1,496
1,266


 
% of Repeat Admissions
24.6
25.1
23.4
23.5
21.7


NHS Lothian
Number of Admissions
7,693
7,348
7,116
7,122
7,095


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
1,633
1,607
1,510
1,496
1,591


 
% of Repeat Admissions
21.2
21.9
21.2
21.0
22.4


NHS Orkney Islands
Number of Admissions
220
199
222
219
199


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
51
28
48
40
43


 
% of Repeat Admissions
23.2
14.1
21.6
18.3
21.6


NHS Shetland Islands
Number of Admissions
207
172
179
171
171


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
44
23
27
32
42


 
% of Repeat Admissions
21.3
13.4
15.1
18.7
24.6


NHS Tayside
Number of Admissions
4,505
4,339
4,568
4,486
4,039


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
1,063
1,025
1,093
959
854


 
% of Repeat Admissions
23.6
23.6
23.9
21.4
21.1


NHS Western Isles
Number of Admissions
429
433
322
335
331


 
Number of Repeat Admissions
94
97
58
73
73


 
% of Repeat Admissions
21.9
22.4
18.0
21.8
22.1



  Source: ISD SMR01.

Housing

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-39738 by Alex Neil on 1 March 2011, what the budget for rural home ownership grants will be for (a) 2011 and (b) 2012.

Alex Neil: Due to the cuts in the Scottish Government budget imposed by the UK Government, there is no budget identified for Rural Home Ownership Grants (RHOGs) for 2011-12. Details of the housing budget for 2012-13 have yet to be determined. However, the Scottish Government has recently announced a further £3 million which will be added to our 2011-12 Open Market Shared Equity budget and will be targeted at helping first time buyers to purchase a home in 13 remote rural local authority areas. As the strategic housing authority, local authorities can also play a key role in enabling self-build, and some may wish to provide loans or other support for self-builders, for example by using council tax income from second homes and long-term empty properties.

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37690 by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 November 2010, what progress has been made in achieving a 25% reduction in senior manager posts in the NHS, expressed as a (a) number and (b) percentage.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer to the member to the answer to question S3W-37689 on 9 December 2010. The guidance referred to in that answer, which had been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 52181) made clear that progress against the target will be monitored as part of each board’s annual workforce plans and projections. Boards’ workforce plans and projections for 2010-11 were already in place when the target was announced on 16 October 2010. I would therefore expect progress against the target to begin to feature in boards’ workforce plans and projections for 2011-12 which will be available later this year.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37314 by Nicola Sturgeon on 16 November 2010, for what reason the National Performance Management Committee has met on average 33% more times in the last three years than the largest NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The number and timing of meetings of the National Performance Management Committee are determined by the business of that Committee and its formal Terms of Reference – a copy has been placed in SPICe under Bib number 52071. There is no connection between that and the frequency with which any NHS board or other committees or groups might met.

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37312 by Nicola Sturgeon on 16 November 2010, on what basis the chair and members of the National Performance Management Committee are paid.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-38130 on 13 December 2010 which explained the basis on which the Chair of the National Performance Management Committee is paid. The other members of the committee are not remunerated for their membership of the committee.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37313 by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 November 2010, whether there is a continuing need for the National Performance Management Committee if there is no performance-related pay for the next two years.

Nicola Sturgeon: Yes, there is a continuing need for the National Performance Management Committee. The specific responsibilities for the committee, as set out in HDL 2006(54) and its formal Terms of Reference – a copy has been placed in SPICe (Bib. number 52071) - require it to ensure NHSScotland has a fit for purposes performance management process in place, regardless of any link to pay. Six of the committee’s eight specific responsibilities are unrelated to pay.

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37313 by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 November 2010, whether it will suspend the National Performance Management Committee.

Nicola Sturgeon: No. I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-40438 on 18 March 2011. The National Performance Management Committee has an important function to perform in ensuring that NHSScotland has a fit for purpose performance management system in place for its most senior managers.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37317 by Nicola Sturgeon on 16 November 2010 and given the need to ensure that the principles of diversity and equality policies are followed, for what reason the National Performance Management Committee does not collate information on the sex and ethnicity of the NHS Executive Managers Cohort.

Nicola Sturgeon: It is the responsibility of health boards as employers to ensure compliance with their obligations on all aspects of equality and diversity and to conduct impact assessments as required

  The National Performance Management Committee collates and analyses information in relation to posts and not individuals.

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37318 by Nicola Sturgeon on 16 November 2010, when it will provide the distribution of appraisal scores for the NHS Executive Managers Cohort for 2009-10.

Nicola Sturgeon: Further to the answer to question S3W-37318, the following table now includes the percentage distribution for both the Executive and Senior Management cohorts across each of the performance ratings for the 2009-10 performance year.

  

Year
Unacceptable
Incomplete
Fully Acceptable
Superior
Outstanding


2007-08
0.00%
2.33%
79.87%
17.47%
0.33%


2008-09
0.25%
1.88%
80.62%
16.43%
0.82%


2009-10
0.16%
2.13%
82.50%
14.64%
0.57%



  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many senior managers are employed in each (a) NHS board and (b) Special Health Board.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-39384 on 24 February 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Pharmacies

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that patients’ views are taken into account when community pharmacy applications are being considered.

Shona Robison: The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 require NHS boards to have regard to any responses received following consultation with local communities. NHS boards must satisfy themselves that that requirement is being met.

  The Scottish Government laid amendments to these Regulations before the Scottish Parliament on 25 January 2011, to come into force on 1 April 2011. These amendments will introduce a number of improvements to the process by which applications to open a community pharmacy are made (the Control of Entry arrangements), and will ensure that consultation with local communities is strengthened. We intend to help NHS boards make available clear information in relation to the Control of Entry arrangements to ensure that members of the public are able to make fully-informed judgements when applications to open a community pharmacy are made.

Renewable Energy

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which areas of Forestry Commission land in Perth and Kinross are available for wind farm development.

Roseanna Cunningham: Perth and Kinross falls within Lot 2 - Central Scotland. Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) has entered into an exclusivity agreement with PNE UK Ltd to explore the potential for wind energy generation in Lot 2. As such FCS has not attempted to pre-emptively exclude any specific areas from the initial exploratory phase except where we have clear reasons for doing so (such as an indentified community hydro interest in Strathyre or blocks perhaps being candidates for the FCS re-positioning programme). FCS expects PNE to professionally and objectively weigh up the opportunities for wind energy development across the lot and report back at the end of eight months.

Road Accidents

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) accidents and (b) fatalities there have been on the A9 since September 2006.

Keith Brown: There were 686 reported personal injury accidents on the A9 trunk road, including 40 fatal accidents, between 1 September 2006 and 31 October 2010.

  Transport Scotland collates information on reported personal injury accidents on trunk roads in Scotland and this database is updated periodically, as data provided by the Police is checked and verified. The year-end figures for 2010 have yet to be finally verified.

Roads

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to address concerns regarding the conditions of roads in the Highlands and Islands.

Keith Brown: Transport Scotland, through its operating companies, is responsible for the maintenance of trunk roads and motorways in Scotland, while local roads maintenance is a matter for local authorities.

  The Scottish Government has provided an extra £15 million to local authorities and an extra £4 million to Transport Scotland to cope with the impact of the severe winter weather on the road network in Scotland, including the Highlands and Islands.

  A national Roads Maintenance Review will be carried out as a priority, looking at how the Scottish Government can work more closely, more effectively and more efficiently with local authorities and learn from best practice.

Scottish Government Expenditure

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will deliver cash savings of at least 20% over the next four years in reducing scrutiny and what impact this will have on health and social care scrutiny bodies.

Nicola Sturgeon: As part of its 2010 Spending Review, the government made a commitment to achieve savings on the direct costs of external scrutiny over the next four years. These will be delivered through: a reduction in administration and management costs as a result of the reduced set of scrutiny bodies which will be in place from this year; efficiencies required of all public sector organisations; changes to scrutiny activities to make them more proportionate, risk-based and better targeted; and more joint-working, co-ordination and sharing of knowledge between scrutiny bodies.

  Both SCSWIS and HIS will contribute to these savings and are taking account of the planned reductions in the development of their inspection plans, business plans for 2011-12 and corporate plans for the next three years. These plans will be published by the new bodies after they are established on 1 April 2011.

Scottish Government Expenditure

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what budget reduction has been applied to Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland for 2011-12.

Nicola Sturgeon: Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) has up to £35.9m available to it in 2011-12. That is the same figure as the 2010-11 baseline, ie the cost in that year of the corresponding functions in SCSWIS’s three predecessor bodies. The total available includes provision for one-off transitional costs. The amount budgeted for operating costs in 2011-12 is £33.7m.

Scottish Government Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers to be the options for flexible working practices that reduce costs.

John Swinney: The Scottish Public Sector Pay Policy for 2011-12 sets out the circumstances in which employers may wish to identify flexible working practices that reduce costs while maintaining headcount and services. These should be appropriate to workforce circumstances and need to be agreed between employers and staff representatives.

Scottish Government Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many senior civil servants are employed in its health directorate.

John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-40433 on 16 March 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Sectarianism

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent on anti-sectarianism programmes in schools in (a) 2007, (b) 2008 and (c) 2009.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has provided funding over the period in question to a wide range of organisations to deliver projects to tackle sectarianism and all forms of religious intolerance across all aspects of Scottish society, including in schools. The total amounts provided are as follows:

  

Financial Year
Total Funding Provided


2007-08
£325,250


2008-09
£281,000


2009-10
£415,600



  However, the specific amounts for work in schools cannot be identified as the work of these organisations cut across many areas.

  Work on anti-sectarianism programmes in schools over the three years include development of an online educational resource; delivery of workshops in schools to nearly 3,000 pupils who have now gone on to deliver anti-sectarian work within their school curricula; roll out of a programme of educational workshops utilising the role model status of footballers to educate young people to tackle Islamophobia, and specific work in local schools with P6 and P7 pupils to address sectarianism.

  The Scottish Government also provides core funding to Learning Teaching Scotland which is the national body responsible for reviewing the curriculum, developing assessment to support learning and providing national guidance and advice to the education system on the use of Information Communication Technology to support learning and teaching in Scottish schools. Anti-sectarianism may arise as part of Religious and Moral Education or Social Studies. However, the curriculum in Scotland is not set in statute. It is for local authorities and schools themselves to decide on the delivery of particular subjects within schools and the resources to be used to address their local needs.

Teachers

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost is of training a (a) primary and (b) secondary school teacher.

Michael Russell: The average annual cost of training either a primary or secondary school teacher is £8,949.

  Therefore the average cost associated with a student in either sector undertaking a one year Professional Graduate Diploma in Education is £8,949 and a four year Bachelor of Education or Concurrent degree is £35,796.

Transport

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much subsidy has been provided for (a) internal air, (b) external air, (c) internal ferry and (d) external ferry services to each island group in each year since 1999.

Keith Brown: Internal Air

  These data are not held centrally. Internal air services are provided and funded by Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands, Western Isles and Argyll and Bute Councils.

  External Air

  The Scottish Government supports the Air Discount Scheme (ADS) which since 2006 has provided discounted fares on eligible routes to people whose main residence is in Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles, Islay and Jura, Caithness and North-West Sutherland. In addition, the Scottish Government supports lifeline Public Service Obligation (PSO) air services between Glasgow and Barra, Campbeltown and Tiree, which cannot be provided commercially. Total funding from 1999-2000 to 2009-2010 is outlined in the following table.

  Table 1

  

Year
Ads Costs £ Million
PSO Costs £ million
Total


1999-2000
-
0.5
0.5


2000-01
-
1.0
1.0


2001-02
-
1.0
1.0


2002-03
-
1.0
1.0


2003-04
-
1.0
1.0


2004-05
-
1.3
1.3


2005-06
-
1.7
1.7


2006-07
3.2
1.7
4.9


2007-08
4.3
1.8
6.1


2008-09
3.2
1.9
5.1


2009-10
5.4
2.0
7.4


Total 
16.1
14.9
31.0



  Internal Ferry

  Table 2: Shetland Islands Council provides and funds internal ferry services in Shetland. Payments made in the financial years 1999-2000 to 2009-10 are as follows:

  

 
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10


Grant (£ million)
8.129
7.885
8.192
10.542
11.215
13.761
13.911
11.279
12.821
12.676
13.405



  Table 3: Orkney Islands Council provides and funds internal ferry services in Orkney. Payments made in the financial years 1999-2000 to 2009-2010 are as follows:

  

 
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10


Grant
  (£ million)
3.439
3.697
3.858
3.903
4.560
4.940
5.554
6.257
6.207
6.918
6.837



  External Ferry

  Data on Scottish Government support for ferry services are not broken down by island group.

  The following tables detail the basic subsidy payments made to support ferry services in the Clyde and to the Hebrides and to the Northern Isles. The figures do not include capital expenditure.

  Clyde and Hebrides ferry services

  Table 4: Caledonian MacBrayne/CalMac Ferries Ltd/Cowal Ferries for Clyde and Hebrides ferry services. Payments made in the financial years 1999-2000 to 2009-10 are as follows:

  

 
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10


Grant
  (£ million)
15.000
19.376
20.400
18.900
25.919
25.900
31.400
34.200
40.555
56.468
60.378



  Note: CalMac Ferries Ltd took over the contract from Caledonian MacBrayne from 1 October 2007.

  Northern Isles Ferry Services

  Table 5: PandO Scottish Ferries Ltd for the Northern Isles ferry services 1999 to September 2002

  

 
1999
2000
2001
2002


Grant (£ million)
11.4
11.5
11.6
11.2



  Note: The grant figures relate to payments made in the calendar year.

  Table 6: NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Ferries Ltd for the Northern Isles ferry services 2002-03 to 2005-06

  

 
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Grant (£ million)
18.424
29.350
23.195
21.574



  Note: The grant figures relate to payments made in the company’s operational year, which is October to September. The contract terminated on 5 July 2006, so the payments for 2005-06 relate to the period October 2005 to June 2006.

  Table 7: NorthLink Ferries Ltd for the Northern Isles Ferry Services 2006-07 to 2009-10

  

 
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10


Grant (£ million)
21.808
27.986
33.151
34.443



  Note: The new contract started on 6 July 2006. The grant figures relate to payments made in each financial year, so the payments for 2006-07 relate to the period July 2006 to March 2007.

  Table 8: Shetland Line (1984) Ltd for the Northern Isles Lo-Lo contract 2008-09 to 2009-10

  

 
2008-09
2009-10


Grant (£ million)
0.416
0.590



  Note: The new contract started on 1 June 2008. The grant figures relate to payments made in each financial year.